To get a complete grasp of understanding the Mexican American War in California, it's necessary to stand back and review the state of California in 1846. The military was extremely weak. The Monterey presidio had so little powder for its three cannons, that ships cannot be saluted. The San Francisco presidio was ungarrisoned. Besides that, enough temporary takeovers had already occurred -- Brouchard in 1818, Alvarado in 1836, and Jones in 1842. A good majority of the Californios did …showed first 75 words of 1684 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1684 total…the only fighting in the north, and that resulted in the June 14 to July 11th Bear Flag Republic. American forces arrived by sea July 7th and gained control of the entire region without firing a shot. Unnecessarily harsh occupation led to a four month revolt in Southern California from September 24th to January 13th, 1847. The United State's war with Mexico ended a year later with the February 2nd, 1848 signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.